Thursday, April 24, 2014

Thesaurus Thursday: "Wonted." + Freya Hopscotch Longline Review.

I recently received my first longline and am now loathe to return to the wonted discomfort of regular bras, despite a few glaring fit issues.

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I have always wanted a longline but been hesitant to purchase one, because I would fall in love with the patterns on Freya's padded half-cup designs, and I knew I needed a 28H, which they did not (and still don't) make. Right now, though, after some weight shifting around, I'm sitting pretty comfortably at a small-ish 30 band and ~FF cup in most of my bras, so I decided to take the plunge and order this:

Isn't she adorable? I'm a sucker for cotton-candy colors and prints that aren't very bold, though; this might be too "sweet" for many people's tastes. I ordered a 30FF, even though I knew Freya's bands tended toward the stretchier side, because my ribcage flares out a bit beneath an indent where normal bands sit before tapering to my waist, and I wanted to be able to breathe! I should not have worried; the Hopscotch band is very stretchy. If your ribcage doesn't have a flare anywhere, I'd definitely recommend sizing down in the band if you're between band sizes, especially because there are only two columns of hooks and eyes.*

While a 28 would probably last longer, the 30 is still comfortable for me. In fact, my first thought was, "Why are all my other bras not this comfortable?" My next thoughts were, "The gore doesn't quite tack because the cups need to be a bit deeper, and there's some side- and quad-boob, but darn it, I like how my boobs look, so we'll just... not scoop-and-swoop completely, shall we?"

Top is semi-scooped. Bottom is (er, mostly) scooped.

It should be noted that despite the bad picture quality,

the colors in real life are more similar to my photos than the stock photo,

slightly more muted.

Yes, I know... I'm setting a terrible example! A 28GG would likely check off more of the "perfect fit" requirements, but again, Freya's longlines are only made up to G cups.** I could return this for a 30G, but (shhh!) sometimes I appreciate the extra oomph from slightly-too-small cups. And I wore it all yesterday without any of the fit issues showing through my clothes. The width of the wires is actually perfect in this size, even though on me, they could stand to be a bit taller. This is a very low-cut bra; I imagine it would be great for those who like semi-wide, low wires, shallower cups, and less coverage. I think it could work for less shallow shapes too, though sizing up in the cup might be necessary. But if you need a lot of depth and narrower wires a la Comexim or Ewa Michalak, this would not be your best bet.

One thing that many people have complained about with Freya's longlines is the band riding up, scrunching, and/or flipping. The band did immediately crease right beneath the cups in front (you can see it in the top photo). This was a minor cosmetic issue for me; it didn't appear to affect the fit. Unfortunately, the flipping band/riding up does happen. It seems to be a combination of a stretchy band and lack of boning in the front to hold it in place. If it becomes too much of an issue, I'll probably add some flexible boning, an alteration I saw on Fussy Busty's Patsy longline. A tighter band might correct this without boning, but as it is, I'd rather not exchange something that's already comfortable and doesn't bother me, especially when the sister size of 28G wouldn't be a perfect fit anyway. I know others have said the rolling and flipping can become uncomfortable and itchy, or create weird lumps and bumps. If you really want the Hopscotch and have sensitive skin or hate it when bands don't stay in place, I'd plan for adding boning to be on the safe side.

So even though the Freya Hopscotch isn't a perfect fit, I'm keeping it, because it is so, so, so comfortable. ... And also cleavage. That is all.

*I don't believe any of Freya's longlines have three? Let me know if I've forgotten one!**Please, please, please, Freya, could you extend these to at least H cups like with the normal padded half-cup designs?

About Me

I'm a 28-year-old writer/blogger with a penchant for most all things nerdy and silly. I love to cook and could easily spend all my time at the grocery and in the kitchen if I had music to listen to and a book to read while waiting for the oven timer to go off.
I'm also passionate about body image and redefining beauty in an artificial world. I try to be kind to everyone, help people when I can, and acknowledge my own inabilities and faults, all with a bit of sarcasm and ridiculousness thrown in.